Letter from the council

[ZachAttack]

So I got a letter the other day. Telling me my dogs are barking and causing a nuisance. I live in a semi detached house. My neighbours who are attached to me I speak with every day. We are very friendly with each other. I’ve spoken to them about it and they said they’d tell me to my face which I know they would. Anyway they say the dogs aren’t that bad when I leave so I don’t know how the person who isn’t attached can complain! (She also works for the council might I add and is a bit of a busybody). I’ve recorded my dogs when I leave the house and yes they do howl but it’s for between 2 - 5 minutes then they settle down. I’m very annoyed that this person hasn’t come to me first. But I guess I have to deal with it. My question is how do I stop the initial howling? I can’t give them kongs because they’ll fight unsupervised and I already walk them before I leave.

Am I doing something wrong? Is there a certain way I should leave the house that lets them know everything will be fine?

[chelseafan]

I think the problem lies with the busy body, if the howling is only for a few minutes then I don’t see what the problem is, there’s soooo many laws about things what’s happened to common sense. As long as they’re not howling before 8 in the morning and after 8 at night I don’t see the issue. You could try leaving the radio on for them, I leave my tv on for my 2 when we go out it seems to make a difference.


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[ZachAttack]

Yeah I leave for work at 5:30am so I can see it being a bit annoying but I work shifts so I only do 5 out of 21 days. And I have a dog walker come round but what more can I do.

Have read I’m not supposed to fuss them when I leave them or come home. Not sure if this works? Will give the radio ago too.

I also found out miss busy body dropped her green box full of glass one morning and that set them off howling. Good how she’s blaming me for that 

[Luna the husky]

No matter how friendly u are with neighbours u don’t REALLY know for sure, people lie, a lot. Hell just recently we found out one my best mates uncle was caught by Wolfpack undercover to catch paedos/groomers... we saw it live on Facebook. He thought he was texting a 13yo girl but it was really them and the things they were reading out were absolutely appalling... and he just happened to be well liked and trusted in the community


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[chelseafan]

Yeah I leave for work at 5:30am so I can see it being a bit annoying but I work shifts so I only do 5 out of 21 days. And I have a dog walker come round but what more can I do.
Have read I’m not supposed to fuss them when I leave them or come home. Not sure if this works? Will give the radio ago too.
I also found out miss busy body dropped her green box full of glass one morning and that set them off howling. Good how she’s blaming me for that 

I don’t fuss mine on leaving or returning, mine have the back garden their converted shed and the kitchen, they’re usually in the kitchen when I return and the tv is on. Shift work can’t be helped and having the dog walker, I can’t see what more you could do. Maybe you could talk to her and explain your shifts, I’d keep the recordings you have as evidence should you ever need to prove the noise is only for a few minutes. Good luck, some people are just vindictive.


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[2Huskyfun]

I live in a 24 hour noise ordinance area. So it doesn't matter here if it is one bark or they sound off 3 hours straight. If there is any type of pattern, you get a ticket here.

Luckly all my neighbors have dogs that sound off all hours of the day and night. No one reports anyone because then we would all get tickets. LOL

TV or radio on, see if the walker can be there at the time you leave.

I randomly put my shoes and jacket on, carry my keys around the house, and act like I am leaving. It seems to be desensitizing mine

[petertmartin]

Yep we are surrounded by barking dogs most of the day sometimes at night. Luckily ours is only vocal when we are around only thing I can think of is giving them some bones to chew on when you leave but if you said they fight that might not be ideal

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[ZachAttack]

Thanks for all of your responses and support. I have been recording them for the past week on my laptop. It only records 3 hours but i have found a common theme. I leave, they bark/howl for the first 5 minutes..... that's it!! Which is pretty much what my neighbor (my friendly neighbor who didn't complain) told me.  

When I work nights i cant see this being a problem as the horrific unbearable nuisance dog barking only happens at 5:30pm.

When I'm off work i rarely get up, let alone leave the house before 9am.

The only time it is a bit of a problem is when I'm on days which I've worked out averages 1.66 days per week.

Anyway I think its kind of nice they miss me so bad lol I've even recorded them when i go to the shop for 10 minutes and they howl then (again for no more then 5 mins, usually like 2 mins!). My laptop records for 3 hours only but it's the same thing each time. I leave, they howl for 5 mins, the rest of the video is silence (they did it again a couple of times later randomly again 5 mins max). I'm going to keep recording as evidence in case anything happens. And if i see my neighbor, I'm going to be very immature and just look down my nose at her. She doesn't deserve my grown up side 😋

On 10/14/2018 at 7:18 PM, 2Huskyfun said:

I live in a 24 hour noise ordinance area. So it doesn't matter here if it is one bark or they sound off 3 hours straight. If there is any type of pattern, you get a ticket here.

Luckly all my neighbors have dogs that sound off all hours of the day and night. No one reports anyone because then we would all get tickets. LOL

TV or radio on, see if the walker can be there at the time you leave.

I randomly put my shoes and jacket on, carry my keys around the house, and act like I am leaving. It seems to be desensitizing mine

I've started leaving the radio on. Not sure if it works or not but im going to keep doing it as when i have recorded them they only make noise for 5 mins. But no I dont think my walker is willing to be at mine for 5:30AM 😆

On 10/14/2018 at 5:10 PM, chelseafan said:

I don’t fuss mine on leaving or returning, mine have the back garden their converted shed and the kitchen, they’re usually in the kitchen when I return and the tv is on. Shift work can’t be helped and having the dog walker, I can’t see what more you could do. Maybe you could talk to her and explain your shifts, I’d keep the recordings you have as evidence should you ever need to prove the noise is only for a few minutes. Good luck, some people are just vindictive.


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Regarding not fussing them what exactly do you do? i usually stroke them, tell them I'm off out and to be good. Do you just leave without saying a word? or acknowledging them? To me this would perhaps make them panic more as at least they know I'm leaving when i say goodbye. It seems to me that if i left without saying a word they would panic more? and cause more havoc? 

[2Huskyfun]

I was an Animal Control Officer here and I actually did barking  investigations, dog fighting investigation, and so on... I have been retired for a long while now and do not know what your laws are... but hopefully this helps.

I would advice the dog owner to record (writing it down is fine) when they leave, when they come home, the times when the dogs were not home, and when neighbor dogs are barking (not to get them in trouble but to prove if it is a different dog) Have a third party (for here it was me and yes it didn't matter what time of day or night) set a couple of houses down and listened. Then record, which dogs were making nois, is there construction in the area, someone starting up their motorcycle to leave for work, and so on. 

It is up to the reporting party to prove your dog is a  nuisance. If you record that your dogs were out of the house and she states that they were barking at that time, will then she can't prove her case. 

It is ok and my judges actually trusted the dog owner more when they have  evidence that - yes, my dog barked between **** and **** because ....... and these are the steps I am taking to lessen it. Or that you are willing to work with the reporting party..... Judges understand that dogs bark.

(it doesn't sound like yours is really a  nuisance) 5 minutes at 5:30 pm is nothing.

I had one case were the RP worked graves and the DO was an elderly person. RP clammed they couldn't sleep during the day because the dogs barked all day. Long story short.... I was able to work out a deal were the RP's kid would actually come over to the DO's house and take the dog for walks during the day. They became good friends after that. 

As hard,  frustrating,  and annoying as it is, just document, and don't let this get to you.

O and state how long you have lived there, how long you have had the dogs, and how long the neighbor has been there (if you know) and why would this be all of a sudden be an issue. You can statements from other neighbors stating that your dogs are not a  nuisance.* Keep in mind a statement is no good unless the person writing the statement is welling to go to court to state that, that is their statement.*

Good Luck, keep us posted

[chelseafan]

Thanks for all of your responses and support. I have been recording them for the past week on my laptop. It only records 3 hours but i have found a common theme. I leave, they bark/howl for the first 5 minutes..... that's it!! Which is pretty much what my neighbor (my friendly neighbor who didn't complain) told me.  
When I work nights i cant see this being a problem as the horrific unbearable nuisance dog barking only happens at 5:30pm.
When I'm off work i rarely get up, let alone leave the house before 9am.
The only time it is a bit of a problem is when I'm on days which I've worked out averages 1.66 days per week.
Anyway I think its kind of nice they miss me so bad lol I've even recorded them when i go to the shop for 10 minutes and they howl then (again for no more then 5 mins, usually like 2 mins!). My laptop records for 3 hours only but it's the same thing each time. I leave, they howl for 5 mins, the rest of the video is silence (they did it again a couple of times later randomly again 5 mins max). I'm going to keep recording as evidence in case anything happens. And if i see my neighbor, I'm going to be very immature and just look down my nose at her. She doesn't deserve my grown up side [emoji39]
Regarding not fussing them what exactly do you do? i usually stroke them, tell them I'm off out and to be good. Do you just leave without saying a word? or acknowledging them? To me this would perhaps make them panic more as at least they know I'm leaving when i say goodbye. It seems to me that if i left without saying a word they would panic more? and cause more havoc? 

Hi, I started training them at 4 months of age going out of the front door with them watching me behind the dog gate and randomly throughout the day, it’s worked for my 2 as it’s just part of the day now. Cai knows I’m going out when he hears me pick the keys up and he’ll run in2 the kitchen, if he’s in the back garden, I just say ‘back soon’ and I leave, I keep it low key, When they were pups they’d howl for a couple of minutes but they don’t now they’re older, I used to leave them with a bone when they were 15-18 months old, purely to keep them occupied. Maybe you could give them a toy or a bone as a distraction, they soon get used to new routines, on my return I keep things low key and use the same words ‘hello boys’ and then I’ll go to them, I usually take them into the garden to play ball or we just sit and cuddle.


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